Funded by the U. S. Centers for Disease Control’s National Public Health Improvement Initiative Public Health Performance Management Centers for Excellence 1 Improving WCHD’s WIC Scheduling Efficiencies Using Quality Improvement Techniques Whatcom County Health Department Presented by Allison Williams & Judy Ziels 2013 Quality Improvement Grantees Learning Congress September 23, 2013

Funded by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Public Health Performance Management Centers for Excellence Funded by the U. S. Centers for Disease Control’s National Public Health Improvement Initiative Date on slide master Whatcom County 2 Funded by the U. S. Centers for Disease Control’s National Public Health Improvement Initiative Total population: 203,500 87,921 (43%) residing in unincorporated areas 73.4 FTEs and annual budget of $18,676,874 Quality improvement experience:  2011: Wrote Performance Management System & QI Plan  : Meetings of new Performance Management Team: established criteria for new QI project selection and will be choosing new projects in fall  : Completed three formal QI projects and 3 QI trainings

Public Health Performance Management Centers for Excellence September 23, 2013 WIC QI Project Team 3 Kelly Molaski, Nutrition Services Supervisor Judy Ziels, Parent Child Health Supervisor Susan Sloan, Performance Management Specialist Allison Williams, WIC Certifier Astrid Newell, Community Health Manager

Funded by the U. S. Centers for Disease Control’s National Public Health Improvement Initiative Public Health Performance Management Centers for Excellence 4 Project Identification Our overall goal was to increase the number of WIC-eligible clients served by maximizing use of available appointment time. 1,966 WIC-eligible individuals on Medicaid in Whatcom County who were not participating in a WIC program as of July 2013.

Funded by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Public Health Performance Management Centers for Excellence Funded by the U. S. Centers for Disease Control’s National Public Health Improvement Initiative Date on slide master AIM Statement 5 By August 1, 2013, increase the number of eligible WIC clients served by maximizing use of available appointment time.

Funded by the U. S. Centers for Disease Control’s National Public Health Improvement Initiative Public Health Performance Management Centers for Excellence 6 Project Methodology PLAN: Assembled the team Examined the current approach Identified root cause Developed solutions & an improvement theory. DO: Tested our solution and theory. CHECK: Studied the results ACT: Standardizing the improvement & establishing future plans.

Public Health Performance Management Centers for Excellence September 23, 2013 Quality Tools – Fishbone (Cause/Effect) Diagram 7

Public Health Performance Management Centers for Excellence September 23, 2013 Client Survey Results 25 clients who missed an appointment during a four-week period were surveyed: 52% had forgotten their appointment. 20% had a transportation issue. 8

Public Health Performance Management Centers for Excellence September 23, 2013 Quality Tools – Pareto Chart 9

Public Health Performance Management Centers for Excellence September 23, Client Appointment Outcomes 10 One of our project targets was to decrease unfilled available appointment time by 5%.

Public Health Performance Management Centers for Excellence September 23, 2013 Quality Tools – Improvement 11 Identify Potential Solutions:  Improve our client appointment reminder system by calling two days before the appointment rather than the current practice of calling one day before.  Provide 2C clients with additional options for nutrition education that do not require a formal one-on-one appointment with a WIC certifier. Develop an Improvement Theory:  If we reduce no show appointments then our overall caseload will go up.  If we have fewer 2C clients needing 15-minute one-on-one appointments with a WIC certifier, then we will have additional appointment time available for new clients.

Public Health Performance Management Centers for Excellence September 23, 2013 DO 12 Test the Theory  For a period of 3 weeks our clerk called clients two days before the appointment as a reminder.  A client Education Room was created to accommodate clients preferring this option to a 15-minute in-person meeting. Clients were surveyed regarding their experience.

Public Health Performance Management Centers for Excellence September 23, 2013 CHECK 13 Study the Results  Calling clients two days prior to an appointment did not improve “no show” rates. Unfilled time actually increased for certifiers from 11% to 15%.  Based on our initial pilot, we estimate that between clients/year will use the Education Room (15 minutes of certifier time saved per client) for an annual cost savings in the range of $3,500 to $7,000.  61% of clients using the Education Room appreciated the convenience of this new option.

Public Health Performance Management Centers for Excellence September 23, 2013 RETURN ON INVESTMENT 14 TOTAL FINANCIAL BENEFITS $5, X 5 YEARS = $26,250 (mid-range annual savings for 2C education option projected over five years) TOTAL PROJECT COSTS $13,942 ROI Calculation: ($26,250 - $13,942)/$13,942 = ROI RESULTS: After deducting costs, our Community Health Division received 88 cents in return for every $1 invested in this quality improvement project.

Public Health Performance Management Centers for Excellence September 23, 2013 ACT 15 Standardize the Improvement or Develop New Theory The Education Room option will expand to serve WIC clients that walk-in that have missed their appointment as well as scheduled 2C’s. An option will be offered where clients can complete their education component online at home. NEXT STEPS: Establish Future Plans Improve the accuracy and efficiency of WIC data collection. Explore the feasibility of text messaging appointment reminders to clients to decrease “no shows.” Create an effective marketing plan to attract new WIC- eligible clients.

Public Health Performance Management Centers for Excellence September 23, 2013 WIC Long-term Goal 16 Increase the number of eligible WIC clients served by maximizing use of available appointment time.

Public Health Performance Management Centers for Excellence September 23, 2013 KEY LEARNING 17 Our Community Health staff has increased their capacity to do quality improvement. Staff is more confident in doing QI and has a better understanding of why QI is important. Question Average (mean) response 1 st Quarter (n=5) Average (mean) response 2 nd Quarter (n=5) Average (mean) response 3 rd Quarter (n=5) To what extent was I committed to helping achieve the group’s meeting goals? 4.4  4.6 To what extent was the discussion open, with sharing of diverse ideas and perspectives?  4.6 To what extent did I say or contribute what I thought was important to achieving our goals? 4.0  4.4 To what extent were the goals clear for each meeting?  4.2 How valuable were the goals compared to other things we need to accomplish?  4.2 Overall, how effective was the group in meeting its goals?  4.0 KEY: 1=not at all and 5=extremely

Public Health Performance Management Centers for Excellence Funded by CDC’s National Public Health Improvement Initiative September 23, Public Health Performance Management Centers for Excellence For more information, contact: Judy Ziels, Parent Child Health Supervisor (360) x32023 Allison Williams, WIC Certifier (360) x Public Health

Funded by the U. S. Centers for Disease Control’s National Public Health Improvement Initiative Public Health Performance Management Centers for Excellence The contents of this presentation were selected by the author and do not necessarily represent the official position of or endorsement by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.